Two more hours to showtime! I really need to stop screwing up my lines!

She squeezed her eyes shut, clenched her clammy hands tightly and gritted her teeth. All the hard work she had placed into memorising the script was going to be wasted!

An arm appeared around her shoulders.

"Hey, how are you feeling? You look kinda pale. "

"I'm...fine." Mina replied. She could tell it was her club president, Juniel, at once.

"Just chill, okay? Don't worry too much, you'll do well."

Mina watched her leave the dressing room. She could see that Juniel was nervous too. Mina took a deep breath, hoping to clear her thoughts and focus on her lines when she heard a small commotion outside the room.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Only members are allowed here! Please leave!" Juniel’s sharp voice was muffled but distinct.

Who could it be?

The next voice she heard gave her the answer.

"Hi, I'm Mina's friend and I'm looking for her. Is she in here?"

Hye-Hyejeong?

"Hey! What do you think you’re-”

The door swung opened and Hyejeong burst into the room before Juniel could stop her.

"Mina!" Hyejeong exclaimed breathlessly, ignoring the girl behind her. "I made it here in time!" "HYEJEONG!" Mina cried joyfully, throwing her arms around her best friend. She waved and made an ‘okay’ sign with her fingers at Juniel, who answered with a nod and a thumbs-up. “I was worried about you, so I hurried here as fast as I could after practice!” Hyejeong said. They held hands and Mina sighed with relief as she felt the warmth from Hyejeong's larger hands envelope her own. "Yeah, I was having issues remembering my lines and was about to have a mental breakdown," Mina stated matter-of-factly, then grinned sheepishly.

Hyejeong's expression grew serious and she took a step back. "Show's about to start. We can't have you fumbling over your lines onstage. Quick, calm down and recite them in front of me."

This is just... like how we help each other prepare for exams.

"Alright. Here, check against my script," Mina said. "I'll start now. Oh my love, why did you descend into such madness..."

A slight turbulence caused the plane to bounce slightly in the air, which jolted Mina out of her dreams. She yawned and forced her bleary eyes open. Someone had placed a blanket over her and Mina realised that her head was resting against something that was soft and comfortable yet too firm to be a pillow.

It was Yuna’s arm.

Mina smiled contentedly and returned to sleep.

**********************************************

“Hey, stop spacing out. The others are already ahead.” Yuna called out.

“Yeah, I’m listening!”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Huh? Wha- oh yes, let’s catch up with them!” Mina blushed and hurried over to where her friend was waiting. The tour of the campus was proving to be highly interesting to her fellow schoolmates, but she could hardly feel any of their excitement.

The ache still lingered on in her heart.

They were led to their dorms at the conclusion of the tour. Each dorm room was simply furnished and divided into two parts. There was a bedroom, with two identical beds, cabinets and drawers, and a common area where the couch, television, pantry and toilet were.

Mina sat on her bed, staring at the blank wall in front of her, while Yuna, her roommate, pranced merrily around while unpacking her things.

 “Hey, why the long face?” Yuna asked. She hopped over and jumped onto Mina’s bed.

“I don’t know. This feeling… It just won’t go away,” Mina replied miserably. She turned to face her roommate who was lying on her stomach behind her. “How long does it take for a broken heart to heal?”

Without another word, Yuna got up and wrapped her arms around Mina in a gentle hug. This simple gesture triggered some memories of Hyejeong doing the same thing to Mina whenever she was unhappy or nervous and she instinctively leaned forward to rest her head on Yuna’s shoulder. Before she knew it, tears were rolling down her cheeks and she started bawling like a baby, her emotional turmoil finally overwhelming her.

Yuna the crying girl’s long hair and waited patiently until her sobs subsided. “Are you feeling better now, my dear?” Yuna asked. Mina sniffled and nodded.

"Would you like to share your problems with me?"

Mina dried her eyes with her t-shirt and gave a short explanation to Yuna. She could not manage anything more than that; it hurt too much to continue.

"Well, what's done is done so there's no use crying over spilt milk. You should just let it go and make the most of your time here."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll... I'll try my best to do so."

"Hmm, that's not reassuring enough. Promise me you won't let it affect you." Yuna raised her pinkie. Mina stared at her for a moment, then broke into the tiniest of smiles and interlocked her own pinkie with Yuna's.

"I promise!"

*************************

The students were treated to a sumptuous meal in the campus canteen as part of their welcome tour. Afterwards, they were free to do whatever they wanted, but Mina chose to retire to the dorms. She needed some time alone.

At the rooftop garden of her hall, Mina leaned on the parapet with a cup of iced Americano next to her. The air was cool and fresh; she could see lights and silhouettes of buildings cloaked in darkness belonging to the city in the distance.

Whipping out her phone, Mina entered the password to the hall’s Wi-Fi, which she had just found out after dinner. A heartbeat later, it was vibrating nonstop with numerous incoming notifications demanding her attention. However, only one caught her eye.

10 new messages from Dongdong.

“Mina, I’m so sorry! I had something on, it wasn’t on purpose!”

“I know you’re mad at me, it’s all my fault! I’m to blame!”

“When you see this, please reply me!”

Mina’s blood was boiling by the time she went through all her messages. In fact, it pissed her off every time she thought about that incident…

Seated among her schoolmates in a stadium packed full with mostly high school and college students, Mina craned her head to catch a glimpse of Hyejeong among the different cheerleading teams. The atmosphere was exhilarating; students everywhere were screaming chants of support for their school teams.

It was the biggest cheerleading competition in the country. It was also Mina’s first time attending, as she had been sick during last year's.

The competition progressed stage by stage, with teams being eliminated each round, until only the best remained. Her own school had been eliminated in the early stages, but Mina cared more about Hyejeong’s team, which made it into the top four. During the final round, each team’s performance seemed as impressive as each other’s, but in the end Hyejeong’s team triumphed.

After the prize giving ceremony, an elated Mina rushed down towards the podium area, but a large crowd of people stood between her and Hyejeong. The steps she was standing on provided a clear view of Hyejeong. She started to push her way through, but what she saw horrified her.

Another girl was standing next to her sweetheart, handing her tissues to dry her tears of joy.

And then that girl leaned forward to give Hyejeong a peck on the cheek.

The seemingly innocuous gesture that was largely unnoticed by surrounding onlookers, but to Mina it made a world of difference. Because she saw the look in Hyejeong’s eyes.

It was a look that Mina only knew too well. There was no doubt about it.

Hyejeong had fallen head over heels in love with that girl.

And that girl was the only reason why Hyejeong could forget about sending Mina off at the airport.

How could she? All the years of our friendship, the love we shared, she threw it all away just to go with another girl? Unforgivable!

Rage consumed her and she felt like tossing and smashing all the potted plants around her. It was not the first time she had felt this way and Mina was well aware that with the surprising amount of strength she possessed despite her petite frame, she could cause some real damage and get into serious trouble. She had to control herself.

Gulping down the remainder of her iced coffee to cool herself down, Mina recalled the promise she made earlier.

 I must not let this overcome me!

Staring hard at her phone, Mina furiously typed the first words that came to her.

“Since you already have someone else, it is over for us.”

Without another moment’s hesitation, she jabbed the ‘block this user’ option.

*******************************************

Joining this exchange programme proved to be a great decision. Mina was able to experience a different curriculum from her normal one, giving her the chance to gain new insight and perspectives into what her passion and talent truly was. Although it was her dream from young to be an actress, she realised her potential laid elsewhere, more specifically in production design.

The college was bustling with different events every week. Initially, Mina was content to stay in her room, but Yuna quickly managed to convince the shy girl to participate in some of the events together with her.

Festivals, carnivals, camps, city tours, fun runs, etc.; there were more then she could remember. Mina actually begun to look forward to attending these events, something that she never thought would happen. And it was all because of Yuna. In fact, no one had ever been able to influence her as much as she did within such a short span of time.

******************************

“Ah, lunch break at last!” Yuna cried, fanning herself with her hand. They had just spent the entire morning exploring the older parts city on foot with a day-tour organised by the college’s heritage committee. The scorching sun beat down on their backs as the pair hurried across the road to a quaint little café at the corner of the street.

“I’ll have the beef lasagne,” Mina told the waiter upon closing her menu. “And I’ll be getting the signature croque monsieur,” Yuna added.

“What a wonderful morning, eh? So many things to see and learn,” Yuna gushed enthusiastically while studying the interior designs of the café. She was keen on modern history and would have chosen to study contemporary history if not for piano. On the contrary, Mina never really cared much for history. Not until today.

“Honestly, history was never my cup of tea. It was always the topic that I flunked, because I could never stay awake in class,” Mina admitted with a snort. “Now I realised how interesting the past is. But that’s not the point. Fact is, you’ve managed to change me more than anyone else ever has. All those stuff we took part in? I’ve never taken part in any before.”

“Really? Wow, you missed out on a lot of things.” Yuna’s gaze fell upon a porcelain doll on a shelve. “Oh look how pretty that doll is!”

“Yeah, it looks like an antique. Listen, there’s something I want to ask you. Are you always this… positive?”

Yuna shook her head. “Nah, I used to be rather pessimistic and moody around people. Until I met a particular person. She was different; younger but much more mature than me. We became close friends. I taught her how to play the piano while she taught me how to sew my own clothes. We stayed out late all the time and got into trouble occasionally…” Yuna gushed excitedly.

Mina could not help but feel a pang of sadness as Yuna rambled on about how this friend gave her invaluable support in her pursuit to become a professional pianist, never failed to cheer her up and was always there for her.

Before Mina could ask anymore, their food arrived and they tucked in hungrily.

**************************************

Despite her curiosity, Mina chose not to even think about Yuna and her mysterious friend for it reminded her too much of herself and Hyejeong. A strange urge to do something passed through her. It felt very familiar but she could not put a finger onto what is was.

She waited for the urge to pass but it only got stronger. Following her instincts, Mina dug around her bag until her fingers brushed against a well-worn and thick notebook.

Her diary. She hadn’t touched it for quite a while, but it somehow found its way into her bag when she was packing her stuff.

A smile spread across her face and without another moment’s hesitation, she grabbed a pen and flipped to an empty page.

~Dear diary….